Richardson file

Dominique Richardson had a laundry list of accomplishments by the time she graduated in 2010 from Fullerton Union High.

She played varsity soccer and basketball all four years, was named Most Valuable Player for each and was a three-time first-team All-Freeway League selection in both sports. On top of that, Richardson was named the Freeway League’s Attacking Player of the Year in soccer and the league’s Athlete of the Year.

She graduated with a full-ride scholarship to the University of Missouri with an even bigger goal in her sights: playing professional soccer.

On April 20, the 21-year old from Fullerton scored that final goal.

“It was crazy. It was like a blur,” said Richardson, who signed with the Houston Dash while finishing her classes at Missouri. “It’s something that you’ve worked for your entire life, so it’s just kind of like a dream.”

That dream began long before she arrived at Fullerton Union High with a half-dozen years of competitive club soccer experience under her belt. Richardson, who played club soccer with Inland Valley Legends FC, would be courted for both soccer and basketball in her final two years playing for the Indians.

Out of the dozen scholarship offers to Division I colleges for soccer, Richardson was drawn by the allure of “Mizzou.” She made an immediate impact during her freshman year, starting every game as a midfielder. As a sophomore, she led Missouri in goals (6) and earned a second-team All-Big 12 selection.

When Missouri switched to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during her junior year, Richardson had four goals, an assist and was named first team-All SEC.

“It was kind of a surprise,” Richardson said. “I thought I played well that year, but I didn’t expect to get anything.”

Richardson would go on to tie the program’s all-time appearance record at 82 in her final game with the Tigers. She started every game during her college career.

“She was a great teammate,” said Kaysie Clark, who earned all-SEC honors as a junior in 2013. “She was always willing to make the extra effort for you or always pick you up if you weren’t playing well. She was just always so positive and always worked hard.”

With her career at Mizzou completed, Richardson entered the draft for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), made up of nine teams with most of North America’s top players.

The draft came and went without Richardson’s name called. That afternoon, she started looking up open tryout dates.

In the weeks that followed, Richardson spent her weekends traveling to open tryouts. Of the three she attended, two teams invited her back.

She chose the Houston Dash, an expansion team new to the nation’s top professional women’s soccer league.

Richardson flew down to Houston for the start of preseason play on March 10. When the 32-woman roster was whittled down to 20 a few weeks later, head coach Randy Waldrum offered her a spot as a trialist– a way for teams to develop athletes as practice players.

“I think for me, I just take it as a learning experience and I kind of hold my own with those players,” she said. “And they’re so good and this is my first year. Even to be on the field with them every day in practice is awesome.”

Richardson took classes online so she could finish her degree in health sciences. She moved into her teammates’ parents’ house in Houston and arranged for her parents to collect things from her room back at Mizzou.

A month later, Women’s National Team members Whitney Engen and Meghan Klingenberg left for international play. With a spot open, the Dash signed Richardson in April.

She traveled with the team a week later to Boston to play against the Breakers, where she stepped onto the field in her first professional soccer game.

“I was so nervous, but Randy (Waldrum) throughout the whole tryout period was like, ‘We’ve kept you here because we want you here,’” Richardson said. “That was just good to have that confidence booster.”

She played 75 minutes on April 20 in the program’s first-ever win.

The Dash waived Richardson’s contract on May 16 to make room for Engen and Klingenberg. Richardson continued training with the Dash.

The move afforded her playing opportunity – she was called up as an amateur to play two more games in June – but the Dash have a full roster.

“We hope this pans out for Houston, this development will get her back onto our roster and also in case of an injury we know that she’s able to step in,” said Randy Waldrum, coach of the Dash. “But we also know that we want things to work for Dominique. If she can stay sharp and something happens with another team, we’ll be the first ones helping her secure a spot.”

Either way, Richardson is looking forward to proving herself in the ranks of professional soccer. It’s a dream she’s chased all the way from Orange County.

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